Spring Break Family Road Trip

Well, last week my parents and I took a road trip to California.  We headed out early, stopped at the Sugar Shack in Reedsport for some fresh donuts and then proceeded to drive through rain, sleet and snow towards California.  I managed to get a quick picture with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, which was the highlight of the first day's drive.  I remember visiting the same place in the Redwoods when I was little.

We arrived in Petaluma to visit my mom's college roommate and her family, managed to enjoy a few bottles of wine and get some sleep.  The next day, the sun was shining as we headed for wine country!  It was nice to relax and enjoy wine tasting at several great wineries in Sonoma.  The cute town of Healdsburg was where we had a late lunch at a French Bistro that was amazing!  Walking around the town and antique shops was great and I even got a new pair of sandals (gotta get prepared for Kuwait, right?!)

The next day we headed for Santa Ynez, just outside of Santa Barbara, where we would visit my dad's childhood best friend and his wife.  On our way, we took a detour to the headlands at the Golden Gate Bridge for some great photo ops.

Santa Ynez was another wine stop, meeting up with some family as well.  After a day of wine tasting, we headed to Solvang, which is a cute little town that makes you feel like you are in Denmark.  Oh yeah, it also has great bakeries!

Leaving Santa Ynez, we packed up the red box again and drove south once more to Orange County.  I got to meet up with my best friend, Tiffany, from college and catch up for awhile, before I made her tag along to our family dinner.  There are no pictures from this dinner because all 20 of us were too busy:
a) talking
b) shoving Chinese food down
c) laughing hysterically
d) eating more while talking
Gosh, how I love my family!  It was great to see my cousins, who I haven't seen in years.  Check us out when we were tiny!

The next morning, we drove to Menifee to visit my grandma and had a nice lunch there.  The sun wasn't out and I was worried we wouldn't see it, even in Palm Springs.  A few hours later, I stepped out of the car in Palm Springs to find it was SUNNY and WARM!  Thank goodness.  We were staying with some family friends, who taught with my dad when they were all new teachers.  The next day, we spent the entire day laying out in the sun, where I got a nice start to my tan (I'll work more on it when I'm in Mexico the next 3 weeks).  Our last day in Palm Springs, we hit up the College of the Desert street fair... it was HUGE!  I managed to walk away with two sun-hats (I feel like Julia Roberts, at the races in Pretty Woman), sunglasses, new Baggallini purse, free neck massage, and some fun-shaped squishy things that go SPLAT when you throw them.  Kind of fun.  Here is Herman (family friend) and me, in one of my new sun-hats.  I'm telling you.  Julia Roberts-style.

I was ready to get home to start packing for ships, but we had one more stop on our way home.  We made it to Davis (near Sacramento) in the evening and spent the next day relaxing, going to see The Lincoln Lawyer (great book), and having a yummy dinner of Mexican food.  It was great to see my aunt and uncle, as I probably won't see them again for awhile!!!!

The last part of our trip seemed to go on foreverrrr, but we stopped for sushi in Ashland and were welcomed back to Oregon with cold, cold rain.  Tomorrow, I pack for 3 weeks on the Oosterdam in Mexico!  I fly to San Diego Friday and am having dinner with a great friend from ships before calling it an early night so that I'm ready for embarkation Saturday....  The first day on ships is always long and exhausting!  I am excited to see friends on the ship AND I can't wait for some overnights in Puerto Vallarta!